A couple questions from a lure painting newbie

[Fishin' Steeler]

Guys, I have a couple of questions... well, hundreds actually, but let's not wear out the welcome, shall we? ... but first let me say that I am blown away, literally, by some of the art I have seen in just a few days of surfing this forum! Especially Shawn's work, Vy overseas, and Blackjack. Just incredible. And the willingness to share ideas and techniques is just astounding. Thanks for so much in so little time.

Anyway, I've just gotten a couple airbrushes and some Createx paints and I've started by repainting some beater commercial cranks to gain my skills in airbrushing, stencils, etc.

(Maybe a couple Heddon 150 Dowagiac's, but not many, really )

Seriously, my first question concerns clear coats. The first couple I've finished with clear acrylic, but I see the big boys use Devcon 2-ton. Is this stuff applied with a brush or something other than spray? I'm a total neophyte about this stuff.

The second question is this: When painting stripes, gill crescents, dots, etc. on the sides of cranks, are these done freehand or with stencils?

[Coley]

The majority of of lure builders on this site use two types

of clearcoats. Devcon 2 Ton epoxy and Envirotex. Both

are 2 part, equal mix. Both are easily applied with a brush.

Both require the bait to be rotated to keep the material

from sagging and dripping off the bait.

Now, my preference is Devcon 2 Ton. It comes

in a double syringe tube that pushes out equal

amounts of the material for mixing. Devcon cures

much, much faster than Envirotex. You can rotate

a bait for 20-25 min by hand and then hang it up

to finish the cure with no danger of sagging.

Devcon puts on a thicker coat than Envirotex.

Envirotex has a longer working time than Devcon

and goes on in a thinner coat. It must be rotated

for several hours before it can be hung to finish curing.

As for markings on your baits, that is another personal

preference. I use as much vinyl as I can. As an example

you can use a hole punch to make black dots from

electrical tape. You cannot feel the vinyl under the Devcon.

I also use it for eyes on a lot of baits and my gill plates

are cut from red vinyl.

Hope this sheds some light on the subject,

Coley